As November fades

and December approaches,

we note plans we haven’t made.

~

Poets have long known,

from Sun Tzu to Robert Burns,

that planning’s over rated!

Sharp spike of rack

flaming razor shard of ice;

most unwelcome forehead guest.

~

Sometimes it’s no fun

to meet manifestations

of the cutting edge.

On this crisp fall day,

let us linger awhile

and not fast-forward to May.

~

Dry crackling leaves

and fresh November breezes

are preferred to springtime sneezes.

Seeking to preserve

National Integrity

he stoops to gassing children.

~

How low can he go

before even the blind can see

the lack of integrity?

It’s been a contest

between bright light and shadow.

Is it always thus?

~

In some darker times

it’s harder to distinguish

dim bulbs from lighter shadows.

So! Crucifixion

is the ivory soap certain

fate for all who confront him?

~

Fox is his soap box

and fiction is what is used

to crucify dissenters.

In the dark of night

A voice calls out, “Who? Who? Who?”

I call back, “Not me. Not me.”

~

Who can argue with

any speaker wise enough

to call from darkness these days?

Shall we gather by

calm waters this Thanksgiving

and await the certain storm?

~

Each year we gather

and each year we are joined by

many thunder birds.

A midweek break in

 the usual routine gives

 us a chance to mend at last.

~

This broken routine,

like a low country levy,

makes way for a different flood.

“Form follows function

modernist architects say.

Does this apply to fashion?

~

As far as fashion 

goes, nothing much is followed,

certainly not form.